The UK's continued appeal to overseas students for under-graduate and post-graduate study looks set to provide a multi-billion pound lifeline to the country's ailing construction sector.

And, says Kerry Tomlinson, managing director of UK student housing specialist Primesite Developments, there seems no let-up in demand for high quality apartments, in spite of tighter visa conditions causing fears among university vice-chancellors of a fall-off in overseas students.

In 2011 more than 298,000 students studied in the UK from abroad, with China, India and Nigeria the top three markets. Their spend is worth £40bn a year to the UK economy, according to latest government figures, and their parents' desire to ensure their children are comfortable and secure is driving demand for new student apartment blocks, with more than £2bn of new projects started in 2012 alone, according to leading property advisors CBRE.

"Our clients are filling our apartment schemes as soon as they're available," says Tomlinson, who is currently developing hundreds of state-of-the-art student 'pods' in cities such as Luton, Stoke-on-Trent and Greater Manchester.

"Parents are quite picky for obvious reasons, and for the students it's wi-fi or nothing. The days of portfolio landlords letting out grotty terraced houses in the rough end of town seem long gone," he adds.

"The market is clearly under-provided for and research with our funders shows a need for at least another 120,000 new student beds in the next five years. At £30,000 a bed, that's approximately £3.6bn of new construction contracts," suggests Tomlinson.

The figures will offer a welcome boost to the UK's beleaguered construction sector, whose output has declined by 17% since its 2007 peak.

Primesite Developments is currently completing schemes for universities in Bolton (Greater Manchester), Stoke-on-Trent and Luton.